Blog Archives

Tips to Beat the Heat

6/29/2012

Wow, we come home from a great vacation in Gatlinburg, TN to record heat. Today it was 109 degrees - a new record high temperature for us. And it's not just us here in central SC - I hear a lot of the eastern part of the country is under heat advisories for weather just like this.

Fortunately, 100+ degree weather isn't too strange to us around these parts. Truth be told, this year's heat wave came late, considering that we were breaking the century mark in May and early June over the past couple of years. So naturally we know what to do when it gets hot. The weather forecasters have given you their tips: Stay indoors, wear light colored clothing, limit exercise, stay hydrated, limit or avoid alcohol intake - these are all great tips. But I have a few more that I've picked up over the years that might not only help you keep cool, but keep those power bills from shooting up with the mercury in the thermemoter:

1.    Keep your blinds/shades closed, and if you have curtains, close them. A lot of people raised their eyebrows at us when we put up dark colored panels in our master bedroom and the other front rooms in our house, until the next summer when they saw how good those dark panels are at keeping heat out and cool in.

2.    Electronics and appliances put off a lot of heat, so you might want to limit use of them. The biggest culprits are ovens, dryers, and computers. Consider preparing meals that take a bit less time in the oven or on the stovetop. Only run full loads of laundry and dishes. Use cooling mats for laptops. Consider skipping the surround sound system when you watch television during the day at least.

3.    Use fans, but only in rooms that you're in. Fans work to help evaporate moisture in your skin as well as to circulate air, which means they don't do much good if you aren't in the room with them. So only use fans in the rooms you're using.

4.    Turn off the lights! Only turn on lights in rooms you're in, and try to use as few as possible. You might think a light bulb can't put off much heat, until you try to change one that was just on. Yea, those suckers can indeed get hot.

5. Those sun shades you see in cars might not look extremely fashionable, but they work. If you park outside for any length of time at all, get one and use it. Also, crack your windows or open your sun room to let air circulate and prevent your car from becoming a sauna (and potentially busting a window, which can happen if too much hot air gets trapped in there and can't get out).

6. Stick to indoor activities. I know it's tempting to head for the pool or the water park on extremely hot days, but that fun in the sun can wear you out. Consider seeing a movie or heading to an indoor shopping complex instead. Or better yet, just stay home. Read a book, do arts and craft projects, play a game, watch a DVD and make microwave popcorn, call a friend on the telephone - just stay in the AC.

7. Skip the sneakers and socks. Wear sandals or slide on shoes that you can wear without socks. And put baby powder on your feet to keep them dry and cool. If your feet are cool, it will be easier for you to cool off. I'm not sure why this is, but someone gave me this tip in high school and it works. It also works in reverse too - when it gets extremely cold this winter, put away the flip flops and put on socks.

8. Consider cool meals and snacks. Salads, ice cream, popcicles, watermelon, pineapple, cantelope - you can even stick apples in the refridgerator and they make good, cool snacks.

9. Take it slower. When the nighttime lows are above 70 degrees, it doesn't give your body or the environment time to rebound. That means that you're more prone to exhaustion and heat related problems. Your body is busy enough trying to stay cool, so what you normally do could put more strain on you than you realize. This is why the meterologists tell you to make sure you stay hydrated and to limit exercise when it gets extremely hot. I usually cut back my treadmill time and try to space out my housework more so I'm not pushing myself as hard as I usually do when it gets extremely hot. Likewise, you might want to try to get more sleep too.

10. I know you've been told this, but PLEASE bring in your pets and make sure they have plenty of cool, fresh water. If you're hot, imagine how they feel with feather/fur coats on! And animals can't sweat to cool off, so they usually have to adapt in other ways like drinking more or immercing themselves in water. Come to think of it, Chloe wasn't as disagreeable about her shower tonight as she usually is and she isn't pouting as much either ...

So there are a few more tips from a native southerner on how to adapt to the heat. Because I don't care what they say - you can't really beat it. I've tried for almost 37 years anyway and I obviously haven't won that battle or we all wouldn't be cooking these days. But I've learned to adapt, and I hope sharing some of what I've learned can help you adapt as well.

Happy Friday to you. Have a great weekend.

Bye!

It's Done!

6/23/2012

I got an email yesterday that we've been working on and waiting nearly 2 years to get. It said "your regulations officially published and went into effect today."

OMG. After years of intensive effort, the laws and regulations that we began updating during the 2010 legislative session passed. One thing about working in professional licensing is that everything is tied to state law and regulations, all of which must go through the legislature to change, and all of which must be updated from time to time - and that time came in 2010. But now that season is over. Everything is done, it's all effective, and the long road through this transition is over.

Thank you, Jesus!

It's been a hell of a ride for me, my colleagues, the Board members, and others that lended their help and support. But praise God because all of that work is now at a close. And while it was intensive and in many places frustrating, I have to say that it was a useful season in my life. I learned a lot. I had to grow up and learn discernment and more humility. I learned more about defining goals and working with others to bring them to reality. And most of all, I learned that if you want something in life, you have to be willing to work hard for it - harder than you ever imagine and believe possible. Giving up isn't an option. You have to stay the course. You have to keep getting up when you're knocked down and stay at it. You can't quit. You have to keep going.

I brought that powerful lesson to my writing and credit it with getting published again and bringing my writing back to life. It was at death's door two years ago, but thank God I learned the power of hard work. Seeing the radical and positive changes at work gave me the confidence to try again by forsaking the traditional route and trying another path with epublishing and forging ahead as an independent author. I'm still working and building, but thank God I see fruit in this labor as well, and I'll keep on going - keep writing, keep promoting, and keep working - because I believe that ebooks will grow and I want to keep growing and to succeed in this realm. And I know it can work. I've seen it happen once. It came to completion in my life yesterday and I believe I will see it work in this area (and many others) as well.

Winston Churchill said "never give up." Now I fully understand what that means. It's not just a motto. It's the path to progress and the secret to success.

That's all today. Have a great weekend.

Bye!

Simplicity

6/19/2012

Sometimes all you want are the simple things in life. Sure, the 18 roses Rick gave me for my birthday last year were gorgeous, but today these 2 beautiful blooms from my backyard look just as good. The red one smells just as sweet too - and I grew it, so getting to enjoy the fruit of my labors is good.

I think sometimes we get too caught up on having the biggest and best to realize that some of the best things in life are the simplest, and we stumble upon them unsuspectingly. I've discovered pretty much every author I came to love over the past few years by buying their books at the secondhand bookstore. I found P.D. James, Ben Bova, R.A. Salvatore, and most recently Kim Stanley Robertson by picking up one of their older titles at The Book Dispensery - a secondhand bookstore here in town. And you know what? I loved their work so much that I went on to buy new copies (and more recently, ebooks) of more recent titles. In fact, I'd be honored if I found a niche market of my own like this - just people browsing for something inexpensive and finding my work to be a treasure.

One of the best CD's in my collection, Cold's 2000 album titled "Year of the Spider," came from the used CD bin at a local music store for $8. One of my favorite rose fragrances came from Freds, a discount store. I've had a lot of compliments on a purple tote bag I bought from the Avon Outlet catalog for $5. The wrist brace I wear occasionally that's a lifesaver when I have to type a lot between work and writing was $7 in the discount bin at Bi-Lo. One of the best "nights out" I've had recently was last Friday, sitting on the front porch with Rick the birds, watching and listening to the wild birds sing and fly around in the setting sun. And if the summer weather gets too hot to sit outside, that's ok. We can enjoy a TV show or movie from Netflix, satellite or our own DVD collection from our nice, comfy recliners. The gas grill has made nice suppers for us and for entertaining guests, and the coffee pot we got as a Christmas gift many years ago still brews some of the best java around, in my opinion, especially when we drink it watching the bluebirds through the sliding glass door while Ollie sings.

Of course we all want the nice things in life. Red wine and steak are nice - but sometimes you just want a cheeseburger, fries and a soft drink. And that's ok too. You can't have it all, and when you're willing to accept some of the simpler things, I believe that's when you find the true joy in life.

That's all today.

Bye!

The Shadow Within Me

6/16/2012

Ok, if you've seen my Twitter and Facebook posts this past week then you know that it wasn't exactly the best week of my life. It was stressful - too much going on with everybody wanting a piece of me and not enough of me to go around. Not pretty. And, of course, we all have our limits and I hit it Thursday. The shadow within me came out, and, well, that dark side came out.

Folks, this is the stuff my novels are made of. I daresay that this shadow is probably what inspires a lot of art and creativity in this world. And frankly, I think it's a shame that this is the very thing so many people try to deny, bury, and hide from the world because it just scares people and, well, we fear what we don't understand. That's a shame, really, because I think that understanding ourselves at our worst is the only way we learn how to be better people. Unfortunately, most people don't agree with me on that point. In fact, I'd say this is the #1 reason why I left Christian writing and switched to fiction. Folks in the Christian end of the publishing industry thought my views were "too postmodern" and thought such darkness should never be exposed, much less brought to the light of day. But put that in the setting of a mystery or sci-fi novel, and they eat it up. I was recently laughing with my husband and mother over the irony of getting a publishing contract for Splinter. That I was so angry with the world at one point in time that I wrote a novel where I destroyed the planet shows something wasn't right in my head. That somebody said "yea, let's publish this and give it to the world," shows that there are people that get that frustration, and relate to it. It seems it's all in how you package it.

But back to my point, which is that we all do have that dark side in us, and there are going to be times when we're pushed to revealing it. The world isn't going to be all unicorns and rainbows and there are going to be times when we've had enough. God himself got angry - just read The Bible and you'll see he got ticked to the point of sending His own people into 70 years of captivity! Of course He was also gracious and sent His son, but Jesus also got mad when he made a cord of whips and overturned moneychangers tables outside the Temple (which I think was pretty awesome of Him). So if the Creator of the Universe and His only Son got mad at the unfairness and injustice of the world, then why do we try to pretend we're better than our Maker by trying to shove our frustration in a corner and pretend that "it is well with my soul?" Man, I hate that song. It's such a filthy lie. You try to tell me that any old thing that happens and you'll calmly say "well, praise God" and go on sipping your coffee while the world is blowing up? I don't think so. You're gonna scream, cry, complain and wail at the world about the insanity of it all, just like the rest of us. I'll be the first to admit that it's not well with my soul and I've got problems, and so does everybody else. I'm almost 37 years old and I've NEVER seen anybody that well adjusted. And by the way, did I mention that I hate that song because I think it's a hedonistic deception? Yea, I call that bluff.

We're human beings and we can only take so much. When it gets to the point where you're stressed, taken for granted, and your needs aren't being met, it's going to get ugly. Frankly, I don't think there's anything wrong with that because it forces us to stop, take stock, and defend our right to have our own needs met. And knowing what pushes your buttons helps you to know yourself better, and to know what you need to do when those stressful times come around again so you'll know what you need to do to prevent such breakdowns, or to deal with them more effectively when it does happen. And when you know yourself well enough to realize these dark episodes will pass, you know what happens? You find that you're not put off when you see it in others. You might get frustrated, but you also have some grace and are able to forgive and just let it go, knowing this isn't their true personality and it's an extreme due to too much stress and too many unmet needs.

Now I'm not saying I excuse such things. Of course, we aren't excused from our behavior during such episodes and can and should be held responsible for our words and actions during these times. I'm saying that by realizing that it's in you and knowing what triggers it, you can figure out how to avoid such times as much as possible and handle them better when they do roll around. I'll be the first to say I'm not proud of many things I said over the past couple of days - but I also feel I handled it better than I did even 2 years ago, because I was better able to articulate the source of my frustrations and what I needed to get past them. And people responded too, with sympathy and compassion. My honest acceptance of this shadow and ability to admit it helped others to help me. And I hope I can return that favor to all of them the next time they face such trials.

So don't be too scared of that shadow. It's part of the balance in all of us and knowing the bad as well as the good can help us to be a better all-around person.

That's all today. Enjoy a video share for a song for days like that - and inspiration for a lot of my writing!

Bye!

Early Birds Run the World

6/12/2012

I recently read an article on Discovery News at http://news.discovery.com/human/morning-people-happy-120611.html about how early birds feel happier and healthier than night owls. Well, of course they do. They run the world. Especially here in the southeast United States, where the old rural lifestyle of "up before dawn, down at nightfall" is still alive and well.

Want proof? You should have seen the brouhaha that happened over a year ago when our agency director mandated that at least 2 people in every section had to work until 5PM every day. That might not sound like any big deal to you, but most of our staff comes in at 7AM - 7:30 AM and gets off between 3:30 and 4. And I'm the "late bird" on our staff, coming in at 8AM. People fight for their right to work those early shifts. I know several people that even get up at 4 and 5 in the morning, go to the gym to work out, shower, and come in shining at 7 or 7:30 A.M.

Yes, I think they're insane. Folks, I have 3 birds at home, and I get up before they do 6 days a week, and they aren't exactly squawking when I wake them between 8 and 9 am on Saturdays. Nature doesn't rise before the sun, and I don't understand why humans are so motivated to do so. It simply isn't the rhythem the human body is designed to run on, and yet we are forced to do so for the sake of living in "civilized society," from starting school at 7:40 A.M. (yes, we have schools that ring first bell at 7:40 a.m. around here) to reporting to work at 8AM or earlier (I've known, and still know, people required to report in at 6AM).

I'll follow that by saying that of course the elderly are mostly early risers. That tends to happen when you have 30 years of reconditioning by being forced to rise before the sun to report at work at the crack of dawn.

Needless to say, I am a natural night owl. My energy levels are higher later in the day, and getting up in the mornings is a downright painful experience for me. But alas, the early birds run the world, so I must suffer and conform to their way if I want to be a part of civilized society. I just don't think it's fair that we're forced to rise early for day to day life, and how often are people forced to stay up late? New Year's Eve is the only time I can think of when it's extolled to stay up when artificial light is needed. It used to be that you had to stay up for Christmas Eve midnight services too, but that changed several years ago when the church responded to the outcry of those that thought it was unfair to drive after dark and stay up after 8PM for worship, so they started offering 5pm and 7pm services.

So no, I'm not surprised that early birds are happier and healthier because they've got the world conformed to serve their happiness and health. But it's the night owls that are the creative types. So when you get up at 4 in the morning to hit the gym, remember that the person that read that book you're reading on the treadmill was probably pounding the keyboard to create that brilliant work well past YOUR bedtime.

That's all for today. Take care and have a good week.

Bye!

The "Busyness" Epidemic

6/10/2012

Have you ever noticed there are times when it seems that everything avalanches on you, and your "to do" list suddenly explodes? I think it happens to us all. And the funny thing is, it seems to always happen when there are other things that we really want or need to get done. As some of my former licensee candidates used to say "life happens," and when it does, it tends to destroy the best laid plans.

I could get into a slew of spiritual explanations for this. Maybe it's the Lord trying to direct your steps in a better direction. Or maybe you're heading in the right direction and it's the devil trying to distract you. It can be a real trick to figure out which it is. My best advice on this side of the debate is to pray about it. If you feel that you need to fight through and plug on, it's probably satanic distraction. If the barriars are too big and you can't get around them, or you are uncomfortable/unable to bully your way through, it might be redirection. Issues like these (where it could be one or the other) can be really confusing. But I do believe we can all agree on two things: First, that such trials usually do sharpen our senses and bring us clairity. We learn and grow from it. And second, experience with such trials usually sharpens our senses so when we come this way again, we're usually more acutely aware of which scenario we're dealing with and take appropriate action quicker, thereby shortening the duration of the trial. That's called wisdom, and in time you come to see why the Book of Proverbs extols it. Using wisdom really does make life easier.

I believe my busyness epidemic of late has been a combination of both. On the one hand, it's not hard to notice that my schedule exploded right when I got another book contract and was close enough to see the end in sight for the novel I was writing. In fact, my first reaction to four calls requesting my presence at the same time was "here comes the resistance - goodness, I'm pissing Satan off. I'd better write faster." I dealt with those, but the confirmation came when I was planning to write the last chapter and lo and behold, I get a call from Rick saying they found another bird outside his school and could we please Please PLEASE help with the little bugger for a couple of days while a better home is set up for it.

Yep, that confirmed it. We kept the bird for a couple of days. And that bird had the honor of helping me finish that draft because dang it, I wrote the final chapters that day regardless of the chaos that was trying to hold me back.

On the other hand, I can't fairly say "it's all the devil's fault!" either. The Lord allows things to happen, and I did learn an important lesson from having that bird in our home (besides the fact that I can't handle 4 pets very well). I learned that you don't have an obligation to hold on to everything that comes into your life. In fact, sometimes things are just passing through, and it's your duty to help it along the way. I didn't realize until the guy came to pick up the bird Thursday evening that this was even an issue in my own spirit. Frankly, I've had a lot of things come and a lot of things go in my life over the past couple of years, and it seems that some things have come and stuck that I didn't plan on keeping at all. They've worked out, but I was getting a bit frantic because I wondered if I wasn't getting "blessed beyond my capacity." Of course that's silly, and nobody in their right mind would turn away blessings - but at the same time, we can only handle so much. I think the experience with this bird showed me that I had an idea in my mind that I had to hold on to everything that came into my life, and that's not always what the Lord wants. Sometimes, He wants me to be the blessing by helping it along the way. In this case, I was able to help somebody that wanted a bird to have it, and to give them information and starter supplies they needed to give it a right, permanant home.

I suppose the point I'm getting at is that times like this teach us the importance of balance in life. Many of us have busy lifestyles: Home, family, jobs, friends, hobbies, church, etc. It's alright to have many things in your life. In fact, I think it's good to have diversity, and responsibility is always a good thing. But we also need to be mindful of our limits. We only have so much time and energy, and we all need to have some time to ourselves. If you have so many demands on your life that you can fill a 48 hour day, then it's time to consider cutting some things so you can get it back within the natural confines of the 24 hours the Lord gave you. The world is full of things screaming for our attention, and there's absolutely no way one person can meet every need. That's why there are 7 billion of us on the planet. I've heard it said that if everybody that were able would do one thing to help in a way where they felt led, then all the needs would be fulfilled. I believe it. I think the Lord creates balance, but we take it out of balance by shifting our focus on things and places where it doesn't need to be. We should first be true to ourselves, and then admit that truth to others. Because there will always be voices telling you what you should do, but you alone are responsible for establishing balance in your life. You just have to learn how to say "no" (which Rick and I have become EXTREMELY proficient at, especially in the past week). They may be mad - until they realize that they've been provided with somebody else that can meet their need better than you can. Of course, they have to choose to accept letting somebody else fill their want/need, but that's their problem and a whole other story ...

Yes, busyness is an issue in all of our lives at one point or another, and we're feeling it now. But we're getting through and learning valuable lessons along the way, as do most people, I suppose.

That's all for today. I hope you have a great start to the

Final Excerpt from Move

6/7/2012

Oh wow, what a hectic week! I'm so glad tomorrow's Friday. Weeks like this give TGIF their entire meaning! The good news is that I finished the rough draft of Move earlier this week - hooray! I'm so glad to have a draft done. It's always exciting when you get an entire manuscript finished. But then the rest of the week took off on us. They found another bird at Rick's work and we kept it for a couple of days while a home was being established for it (check out more on this story at the bird's website at http://conurecorner.weebly.com ). Then the house needed cleaning and there were a dozen or so little things that needed to be done that fell to the wayside while I was trying to write a book and have a life at the same time.

That being said, I thought I'd offer you a final excerpt from Move. I appreciate the interest that's been shown in it on Facebook and Twitter and hope that you are enjoying these. Unfortunately, this is the last bit I can share without giving too much away! I hope you enjoy it and thanks for sharing in this journey with me. Of course, it's not over yet. There's still rewrites, revisions, proofreading, etc and then submissions. This is only the completion of Stage 1. Still, it's fun to share it with you.

Enjoy! I hope you have a happy Friday tomorrow and a wonderful weekend.

Chapter 27

Ruby slammed her door as she walked in her apartment and dropped in her recliner, rubbing the bridge of her
nose to try to ease off the headache forming in her forehead. She couldn’t tolerate another two weeks of this abuse, she just couldn’t. She wondered if she shouldn’t go to the management office, withdraw her lease extension, and start looking for a new place in Knoxville right now. Maybe Mr. Goodard would let her take a couple of days off for it. It might be worth taking him up on the offer to move to Knoxville. Between her confrontation with Bryce yesterday and her confrontation with Cheyenne today, it seemed she was surrounded by strife. Perhaps it would be wise to run. She just hoped it wasn’t too late.

Or rather, she hoped she wasn’t playing into the hands of others that had ill intentions for her. Because these days, it seemed that everybody did.

The phone ringing snapped Ruby from her reflections. She thought about letting it go to voicemail, but she saw that it was Denise. She smiled. If anybody could make her feel better, it was Denise. She wondered why she didn’t think to call her sooner.

“Hello?”

"Ruby, are you watching the news?”

“No, I just got home. Why?”

“Turn it on.”

Ruby turned on the television and changed it to the local station, where the news was coming on. A picture of
their office building appeared beside the anchor.

“Firefighters are at the scene of an office fire at Goodard Graphics in Tanger Falls, where a fire alarm alerted
authorities of the blaze just an hour ago. Fire fighters found office manager Cheyenne Wilkins unconscious in the front office area and rescued her from the scene. Mrs. Wilkins is in stable condition and offered this comment to
reporters.”

The scene turned to Cheyenne. Her face was dirty and there was blood near her right temple where a cut peeked from under her hairline. “I heard the alarm go off as I was preparing to leave for the day and rushed out of the office as quickly as possible. Something hit me in the head as I was running through the lobby.”

“Did you see what hit you?” the off camera reporter asked.

“No,” Cheyenne said. “It was smoky. I thought I saw someone in the lobby, but I’m not sure.”

The scene returned to the anchor. “The fire originated in the front office area, where several wires were stripped near an electrical outlet. Ms. Wilkins told the paramedics that another employee, Ruby Josen, was also present at the office when the fire broke out, but she was not at the office when resue teams arrived.” A picture of Ruby taken from theemployee id badge database appeared beside the anchor’s head. “Authorities are looking for Ruby Josen to question her in relation to the fire. If you see Ms. Josen, please contact the Severville County Police Department immediately.”

“Oh no,” Ruby mumbled. She lifted her phone. “Denise, what am I going to do?” She pulled the phone away from her ear, realizing the line was dead. She threw it on the floor. “Great,” she mumbled as she heard loud knocking at her door. She stood up to see Denise standing at the door. She threw it open.
“Denise!”

Denise grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the apartment. “Come on, we have to go.”

“But my purse …”

“Leave it, Denise said sharply, slamming the door behind her and tugging her toward the parking lot. “They’ll be here any minute. We have to leave now!”

Writing Advice I Do Take

6/3/2012

Ok everybody, I'd like to offer up the entry I promised a week ago about writing advice I do take. I may be a rebel and I certainly insist on doing things my way, but there are some things that are actually good tips. For example:

1.    Identify a ninch market to target. The most common mistake writers make is aiming at an audience that's too wide. I know that targeting, say, women in the 20-45 age range seems like a good idea, but the fact is that the wider your target, the less likely you are to hit it. This isn't the firing or archery range - it's reality, and reality means that, unless you're a celebrity, it's really best to find a small segment to serve, and build from there. Anybody can be a one-hit-wonder. It takes more to build up an audience - and a reputation - from the ground up, and this is more stable. That doesn't mean that your hands are bound - simply that you focus on a certain demographic. for example, I write across a number of genres, but I focus on ebooks. So my writing is more suited for young to middle age adults that are tech savy and very "plugged in." And from here, I hope to conquer the world.

2.    Set aside time to write. You have to, or everything else in life will take over. And let me be very frank with you: People in general think that writing is easy and that there's nothing to it. Nothing can be further from the truth, and you and I know that - but we all know that there are lots of people that have opinions about things they really know nothing about, and this is one of them. Only you know how much time and effort it takes to brainstorm, plan, research and write that dream novel. Others can support you, but unless they're writers, they have no idea what it's like, so you're going to have to put your foot down and make this work if you're serious about it. And when it comes to scheduling that writing time, you can have some flexibility in there. For example, I simply can't say I'll write for 2 hours every day. With my lifestyle, that's not gonna happen (we discussed that about a week ago, and how all hell broke loose when I tried that one time). But I can say I'll write after work two nights this week, or I'll take my laptop to work and write on 1 lunch hour, or I'll do 2 chapters next weekend. That's doable. So make a schedule that fits best with your life and stick to it. And don't worry - the schedule can change, as long as you have some time penciled in for "writing" every few days.

3.    Use technology to your advantage. You have to. Anybody that knows me will tell you that my 2 best friends are my smartphone and my laptop. As I said in So You Want to Be a Writer, the days of slipping a beautifully handwritten manuscript over the publisher's transom are over. Everybody expects typed submissions, and they're increasingly requesting that they be submitted digitally with explicit formatting instructions. Everybody expects you to have an email address, blog and website. Everybody expects you to be on social media - Facebook or Twitter at a minimum. You can say "I don't do computer!" and "I don't need all that high tech mess!" all day, but foresake these, and you foresake an audience. This is the twenty first century and it's not going away - in fact, all of life is shifting in that direction. So do yourself a favor and accept that if you want to be a writer, you have to snuggle up with technology.

4.    Educate yourself. I said in my entry last week that I don't really have to means to attend conferences, but I have studied up on the craft of writing. I've read books on how to write, brushed up on grammer rules, familiarized myself with the publication process, and even took a couple of courses by computer. There are many ways to learn, and it's wise to take advantage of every opportunity you can.

5.    Remember that your editor is your friend. So is everybody in the publication process, from the submissions editor to the graphic artist to the sales and publicity staff. Be kind, accept their guidance, and establish good working relationships with everybody. Remember, they have faith in your writing and they're trying to help you as an author. Help and support them as publishers by being kind and easy to work with - and saying "thank you" a lot.

6.    It's all about the readers. We write because we love it, but we pursue publication because we hope o ur stories will entertain, inspire, and bring joy to readers. If you're doing this for any other reason, examine your motives.

7.    Don't give up. Dry spells happen. I'm getting published now, but did you know that I went through a 3 year dry spell before I got my book contracts for Blurry and Anywhere But Here last year? That's right - I had absolutely nothing published in 2007 - 2010. I even had a contract for Quarantine fall through in 2009 when the publisher offered me a contract, then filed for bankrupcy before it ever went to print. But I'm glad I didn't give up, because I wrote both of those books and Splinter during that time frame, and now 2 of those books are published and I just signed a contract to publish Splinter through Whiskey Creek Press. And I self published Quarantine because I couldn't find any other publisher willing to take on a novella, so I finally decided to quit looking, do it myself, and move on to promoting my work and producing new work. Writing, like anything else in life, has it's ups and downs. And like everything else, you have to ride out those waves and learn from your experiences to break through to success.

So there you have it - seven tips that I use in my own endeavors to writing and publishing. I hope these are helpful and inspirational to you, and they give you a framework for defining your own path to success.

That's all today. Take care and I hope you have a good week.

Bye!

Another Excerpt from Move

6/1/2012

Hi everybody! I know I promised to do an entry on writing advice I usually take, but I've had quite an active week. I signed a contract with Whiskey Creek Press to publish Splinter, the sci-fi apocolyptic novel I wrote for National Novel Writing Month in 2010, I had an author interview at Realmantic Moments, and I wrote 6 chapters for Move, my mystery novel-in-progress. I also had a meeting yesterday and wound out behind the computer a lot today catching up on things, and frankly, my wrist hurts. It actually locked up on me at one point before I left work - scary. It passed and I'm ok, but I think it's best that I don't push my luck too much.

I did want to blog, though, so I decided to offer you another excerpt from Move. I hope you enjoy it - and don't worry, I will give you that writing advice in an entry in the near future. But for now, enjoy more of my novel in progress and this song, which I believe sums up how Ruby Josen, my protagonist, is feeling about life.

Happy Friday!

Chapter 19

“Cheyenne, is now a good time to talk?” Ruby asked, poking her head around Cheyenne’s office door.

Cheyenne picked up the clock on her desk that read five o’clock in bright red numbers.“Is the office locked up?”

“I locked the office. I believe the intern is still in the graphics room printing materials for tomorrow’s meetings, but she can get out when she needs to.”

“Very well,” Cheyenne said, waving to the chair across from her desk. “Have a seat.”

Ruby sat. “I’ll get right to the point. Denise called me last night and said you were telling everybody that hair clip they found at Detective Wesson’s murder scene is mine.”

Cheyenne set her jaw. “I don’t recall ever saying that.”

“Detective Barnes called me an hour later and said the same thing Denise told me. She said you called her Monday evening and told her I was wearing a hair clip just like that Friday at work.”

“Well, Denise told her it was my hair clip.”

“Denise said you had a hair clip like that. There’s a difference between saying someone had a clip like that and that they were wearing one found at a murder scene later that evening.” Ruby paused. “Why would you do that, Cheyenne? Why would you try to get me in trouble with a detective investigating two murders?”

“Because you were wearing that clip Friday.”

“Really? Because I looked through my entire apartment and I didn’t find it.”

“Well, of course you wouldn’t if it were left somewhere else.”

“Why are you doing this?


“Doing what?”

“Trying to get me in trouble? I don’t understand. What did I ever do to you?”

Cheyenne stared out the window but didn’t comment.


“Cheyenne, we used to get along so well. You even offered me a reference for the executive secretary position last winter.”

“I never …”

“Yes you did, Cheyenne, yes you did. Then Millie got the job and you changed. You turned cold toward me and I don’t understand why. What happened? Did Millie turn you against me?”

“I knew it!” Cheyenne said, jumping from her chair. “You resented her because she beat you out of the job. I knew …”

“You don’t know anything!” Ruby shouted, jumping from her chair. “And I obviously don’t know you. What’s happened to you Cheyenne? You’ve been so bitter the past few months. Ever since …” She paused. “Your husband left.”

“How dare you,” Cheyenne screamed. “How dare you pass judgment on me.”

“You’re the one trying to throw me under the bus in a murder investigation. You never answered my question. Why did you tell Detective Wesson that Swiss Army Knife was mine? Why did you tell Detective Barnes the hair clip was mine? Why Cheyenne? Why are you acting like this?”

“Because I have to tell them something or I’ll be the prime suspect!”

Ruby stared at Cheyenne. “So you get them off your case by putting them on mine. Some friend you are.”

“We were never friends, Ruby. Get that right. You’re my employee. And you’d better get yourself straight, or you won’t be anymore.”

“Is that a threat?”

Cheyenne leaned her arms on her desk. “That’s me saying outright that you haven’t been the same since we hired Millie for the executive secretary position last winter. The quality of your work has declined and you’ve done nothing but whine and complain ever since she came to work here. I know you resented being beat out of that job, but grow up, Ruby. This is reality and we don’t always get what we want. A lot of life is taking the hand you’re dealt and doing the best you can with it. I suggest you do that, or it might not go well for you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ruby asked, leaning on the desk and matching Cheyenne’s stare.

“You and Denise quit pointing the finger at me, and I’ll quit pointing the finger at you. Simple as that.” Cheyenne pulled herself up straight. “And you might even keep your job, if you stop being a thorn in my side.”

“I’m being a thorn? What have you been?”

Cheyenne smiled bitterly. “What I have to be to survive.” She looked at her clock. “I have to pick up my son. We’re done here. Get out of my office and get your attitude right before you come in here tomorrow. Am I clear?”

Ruby stood.“Explicitly,” she said, storming out of the office, knowing what she had to do next.

Poor Ruby! This is probably what she played on her iPod next: